I've never heard of it, so wonder what evidence that term is based on??? If it's plain forgetfulness, that's scary!

Hope your family member asks questions and gets some reasonable answers. Perhaps this was just a method used to encourage him to become more active as if that would help delay the onset of AD. I've never heard of a link between Parkinson's and AD.

Hope you get more info and hope most of all it's not AD at all - pre or anything in that ugly ball park!

I sure hope that "they" are not coming up with diagnoses of pre alzheimers!!! I am sure that I that, if they are!! :> Just like, I am sure that I am re diabetic.

I really do think that alzheimers and parkinsons can be linked together. I believe that some people are inclined to get both, while some people only get alzheimers. Parkinsons (I think) has some of the same characteristics as AD. And they both have a few of the same symptoms. I seems like I did read something - somewhere about them being slightly connected somehow. Real positive, huh???!! :>

I am not worried about myself yet. Too busy watching after my parents. My sister is in town and visited with my parents for 2 - 4 hours today. They went to a great granddaughters graduation (my sister granddaughter). I hope it turned out ok. My dad has trouble sitting still that long and staying awake that long and climbing stadium stairs!!!!! I could keep going. I will see her and them tomorrow at the graduation party. Should get an earful from my sis, as she has not seen them in months!!! Just updates from me.

His doctor told him to do mental exercises to keep his mind from deteriorating too fast. I personally think such a method is useless, but maybe it gives the person motivation to do more.

His family is very very supportive. I am sure the doctors will get him on the right drugs for Parkinson's and as for the other, who knows? Possibly this doctor used 'Alzheimer's' as a substitute word for the normal decline of age? It reminds me of someone else I know who after extensive tests was told all her symptoms are nothing but 'old age.' The problem as I see it is, both sides of her body are equally old. So why do we get symptoms in one leg and not the other? And then it's old age?

I think we just have to stay young! One way to do this is to hang around with small children. I'm glad I have the opportuity to do that!

My guess is that: in the beginning of Alzheimer's disease progression, the changes are too subtle for the testing to assess as "dementia" - but obvious enough for the family members (who have no dementia of their own) and who live with the person on a daily basis to know that "something" is wrong.

In the very very beginning, I think it gets written off to something that happens to everyone. Then it happens closer together and often enough that those who live with them day in and day out know that something is wrong. But it's not enough yet for the neuropsych tests to identify as "dementia" or any other title...

I am basing this personal opinion only on what is happening with my husband. The neurologist seemed to take my written documentation of chronology of confusion episodes and memory problems very seriously. He ordered all of the tests to screen out other things (and all were normal). He ordered the genetic test - and he did have markers for Alzheimers. At that point he said, now we need to determine if "dementia" is truly present. That is when hubby had a FULL DAY of memory and cognitive testing. I am almost 100% certain that if those test results had been more abnormal, he would have a diagnosis of early onset Alzheimers.

But most of the results were normal and some even above normal. That does not surprise me because he has tested at the genious IQ level in years past. A very few tests showed below normal or "mildly impaired" but those were not enough to offset the above average ones and so they did not diagnose AD. But the neurologist commented that the neuropsych tests would be our "baseline" for comparison when I "tell him in 4 years that (hubby) is much worse"...

So my feeling is - the neurologist did not give the AD diagnosis because the tests did not show the evidence of "dementia". But he knows that hubby is having more confusion moments and memory problems than is normal - and could very well be in the stages where the symptoms are too subtle to slap an AD diagnosis at this point.

That is just my opinion. I think it is highly possible that my hubby is in the very very early stage 0. I think in 4 years, the tests could show enough change that he will be diagnosed (and his behavior and impact on me will be closer to what others here are experiencing with their family members who are just recently diagnosed). But I hope that I am completely and utterly wrong.

I hope you are wrong too! Maybe your husband will continue for a long long time with no deterioration. I am also hoping the same thing for the person I wrote about. His doctor put him on Namenda. I'll keep updating as I learn more.

That sounds somewhat like my Mom's situation. They diagnosed her w/ MCI but because of her genetic testing they were so confident that AD was around the corner they diagnosed her with AD and started treating her for it.